Title: Truth Shines Through
Author: Dream Enid
E-mail: writergrl3@hotmail.com
Rating: PG13
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Hey everyone! I'm glad to be writing so
soon. Please e-mail me at
writergrl@hotmail.com that's an L then 3.
Thanks. Oh, sorry about the typo-s in the
other story. I was rushing to make the
deadline and didn't have time to run spell
check. Hey Alicia Blade and Jade! If you're
reading this, you've both been an inspiration
to me. I love to write; I just never had
tried to write a fanfic before the last one.
Also a friend of mine you should read~~ her
name is Starkeeper I think. Sorry, I know
this girl in real life. She changes her AOL
screen name so many friggin' times. There
must be what? Five variations of this name?
So anyway, it's Sunstarkeeper or Starkeeper,
something like that. Check her, Jade, and
Alicia Blade out.
This story is during Beryl. It is while
Darien and Serena discover the other's
identities. I will; however, be changing the
way they find out. Just so you know?
Also, I don't own Sailor Moon yadda yadda
yadda you know the details. Enjoy!
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Serena Tsukino recently transformed into
Sailor Moon to fight the new youma, who was
once again looking to find out the secret
identities of the Sailor Scouts, and most of
all, Sailor Moon. (AN: whew! That was a long
sentence!) She breathed deeply as she glanced
around at the scene around her. She found
herself staring at the new youma with
unmistaken loath.
This new youma appeared to be a woman, as
one could never quite tell with youmas. This
woman had wickedly long red hair held high,
behind her head in an intricate knotted
ponytail. She had a normal skin color but was
far from normal. Her seductively red tube top
dress hugged her body tightly. She wore high
heel strappy shoes; it was an amazement she
could walk in them at all.
The youma was cornering the only scout on
the scene. Sailor Moon knew what to do. It
seemed the youmas were getting stronger, but
she had to try. She brought her hand to her
forehead; withdrawing her tiara to reveal a
small crescent moon pointing upward toward the
top of her head.
"Moon, Tiara, Magic!" Sailor Moon
shouted, each word as determining as the
first. In one fell swoop, the youma
sidestepped the tiara as the tiara raced back
to Sailor Moon. She caught it; placing it
back on her forehead.
"Is that all you can do?" the youma
sarcastically asked. She lifted her hands
high above her head. She looked as if to hit
the scout hard with the energy from her hands.
Why, oh why, did she not tell the scouts where
she was going before she left?
"This won't take long. You are history,"
the youma added, raising her hands high above
the air. Quickly, she thrust her arms down;
focusing her gathered energy to collide with
Sailor Moon. She scattered, trying to get out
of the way of the power. The youma cackled.
At that moment, a brilliant red rose sped
through the air to separate the woman from
Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon fell to her knees
gratefully. She could always count on Tuxedo
Mask.
"Sailor Moon!" the voice of a man called.
"She is just trying to weaken you! Use your
power of the?"
"You! Why do you always have to go
around helping Sailor Moon and her little
'gang'?" the youma cried out, thrusting her
energy toward Tuxedo Mask. He could not move
quickly enough. He felt a blow from the
energy.
"The power of what?" Serena shouted.
"The power of what?" she asked again.
"You will know soon," was his reply.
The youma wished to have nothing with a
Sailor Moon with new powers. She was hard to
control even without them.
"Silence!" The youma shouted sending
another blast of energy toward Tuxedo Mask.
She would not let him ruin her plans. She
raced toward Tuxedo Mask; she seemed to be
floating through the air as she hurtled toward
Tuxedo Mask.
"Oh, Tuxie," she called out, pinning
Tuxedo Mask to the ground. He struggled
against her grip. She was much stronger than
she seemed. He grunted, trying to pull
himself from her grip. The youma laughed at
Tuxedo Mask's struggle.
"Oh, Tuxie, forgive me! I did not tell
you or Sailor Moon my name! My name is?"
"You're about to be dusted," a voice rang
out through the air. It belonged to none
other than Sailor Mars. Sailor Mars, Mercury,
Venus, and Jupiter, had shown just in time.
"You've come!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.
"Quiet, you fools!" the youma shouted.
"My name is Faye, and I will be your
downfall!"
"Faye? You look like no fairy I've
seen," Tuxedo Mask grunted from underneath
Faye. She was sitting on his chest, pinning
him in place.
"Well, see I keep forgetting no one will
know unless I show them what I really am,"
Faye giggled. Enormous red wings erupted from
Faye's shoulders as her skin turned to a pea
green. Her hair fell from her knotted
ponytail to gracefully frame her face. It
fell just below her shoulders. Her hair was
no longer one solid color. It now held
highlights. Her red tube top dress now held a
high slit. "That's not all I can do, mind. I
can also fly, but more importantly I have
unbelievable strength as you might have
noticed. You see, I have this teeny tiny
problem. You will listen to me, or I'll crush
Tuxedo Mask into oblivion," she said quickly
seeing all five scouts' hands twitch with the
urge to fight her.
"Now where was I? Oh, yes! See, my
boss. She's the grumpy sort, wanting the
Rainbow Crystals. Now, you see I kind of need
these crystals because if I don't get them,
I'm sacked. And if I'm fired, terrible,
heinous crimes happen. So I thought, and I
thought. 'Now who could possibly have these
crystals?'" Faye's lips tweaked into a slight
smile. She quickly kissed Tuxedo Mask on the
lips. Tuxedo Mask's lips burned. He felt the
hatred leak into his body.
"You will 'not' do that again!" Tuxedo
Mask roared.
"Oh, yeah?" Faye asked kissing Tuxedo
Mask again.
Tuxedo Mask spat at Faye's face. "That
is what I think of you!"
Faye's smile faded. She applied pressure
to Tuxedo Mask's chest as he cried out in
agony.
"So let's continue. You will refrain
from fighting until after my story," she added
throwing dirty glances at the scouts. "So
'let's' continue, 'without' interruptions,"
she said, her voice filled with menace.
"So who could have the infamous crystals
but our own Tuxedo Mask? Yes, of course we
have our share, but how can the Silver
Imperium Crystal form without all seven? Now,
Tuxie?let's have a trade shall we?" she asked,
patting Tuxedo Mask's chest.
"Oh, what's this?" she asked, feeling the
lining of Tuxedo Mask's front jacket pocket.
"Could it be?"
"Don't be stupid," Tuxedo Mask replied.
Never the less, he freed his arms in an
attempt to keep the youma from reaching into
his pocket. "As fun as this is, I must be
going?"
"You're going nowhere," Faye hissed,
pushing Tuxedo Mask back to the ground, and
holding his arms to his body. She shifted to
holding him in place with one arm. "If this
is the way you're going to play, I might as
well know who you are. After all, we will be
seeing more of each other if we go at this
rate, won't we?"
Realization dawned on Tuxedo Mask and the
scouts as the Sailor Moon rushed up to stop
the horrible monster from doing the very thing
they all feared. The youma sent her energy
hurtling at Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon slowly
sank to the ground, watching the scene laid
out before her in fear.
The youma reached up toward Tuxedo Mask's
one and only object keeping his identity from
the rest of the world. The others watched in
horror as her finely manicured fingers clasped
the edge of his mask. Tuxedo Mask felt terror
surge through his body. He had to stop her.
His own life depended on it.
"No!" Sailor Moon shouted rushing toward
to the two people before her. "No," she
whispered. She pushed Faye off of Tuxedo
Mask. This was unwise; however, because his
mask went with her.
"You little brat," Faye responded,
floating up. She was suspended in the air.
She held Tuxedo Mask's very own protection in
her hands. "It doesn't matter now. I have
Tuxie's mask! I now know his very identity!"
Sailor Moon looked down at Tuxedo Mask in
order to see? Darien? Sailor Moon's face held
utter amazement, except; it wasn't Sailor
Moon's face anymore. It was Serena's. She
had de-transformed from the shock of things.
Serena? His Serena? Darien wondered.
Serena was Sailor Moon?! It seemed to fit
now. Both were klutzy, ditzy and full of the
same joy for life. No one could mistake those
meatballs on the top of her head. How could
he not recognize her as Sailor Moon?
"Whoa! Two birds with one stone! Well,
it looks like I'm the crowd now. I got to go!
Catch up with 'ya later, Tuxie! Don't forget
the crystals! Oh, do you mind if I keep this.
It adds to my d飯r! Toodles! Mr. Mask, Ms.
Moon, I'll be catchin' up later. Or should I
say Mr. Chiba, Ms. Tsukino?" Faye managed to
say in one breath as she disappeared out of
the air. Her laughter encircled around them
carried by the air.
"You?" Serena gasped.
"Me? What about you?" Darien replied.
"I never thought a meatball head could be a
superhero!"
"Oh, yeah? Yeah? Well, same to you,
Buddy!" Serena shouted as she turned to flee
from the scene.
"Wait, Serena, that's not what I meant."
"Humph!"
"Umm?Serena?" Amy began.
"Yes? What now?"
"We'll just leave you two alone," Lita
answered.
"Don't leave me with, with, that!"
"You need to work things out," Raye
added.
"I don't need to work anything out!"
"You two really should talk. You never
know what might unfold," Mina replied.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, it means?"
"See 'ya!" four voices said determinedly.
They set out away from Serena and Darien.
"Wait! Wait! You can't possibly leave
me with this? ugh!" Serena broke into a light
jog from the entire scene. Darien ran after
her. He kept her pace until he reached her.
He continued to walk side by side with Serena.
Serena was the one seeming to keep up with
Darien for it took two strides for her to keep
up with one of Darien's.
"A bit of a stalker, are we?" Serena
asked, her words holding venomous sarcasm.
"One might think it was the other way
around."
"This is why I dislike, no, 'hate' you so
much, Darien."
"Do you really, I mean, hate me?"
"What do you think, Darien?" Serena
sprinted away from Darien. Darien just stood
there, his chest falling up and down with each
chocked breath. He winced each time he
breathed in. His chest still hurt him from
when Faye held him to the ground with
unspeakable power. He watched Serena continue
down the sidewalk until she disappeared from
view.
***
Darien walked through the Arcade with his
shoulders slumped over. He saw Andrew behind
the counter. He was thirsty, and it was
getting close to dinner anyway.
Andrew regarded his best friend coming
through his arcade door. Darien had been
Andrew's close friend for quite some time now.
Maybe he could offer him something to eat; it
'was' dinnertime.
"Wow, Darien," he began, "you look like
you got run over by a truck!"
"Thanks. Knew I could count on you to
cheer me up."
"Awww, I was just kidding, Darien! Pull
up a stool. Come on, it's dinnertime. I'll
buy. What do you want?"
"Surprise me."
"Alright, a Coke and cheese burger it is.
Anything on your burger?"
"Just ketchup and pickles, Andrew."
"Got'cha. Oh, and I'm givin' 'ya fries."
"'k."
"So what brings you to me like this,
Darien?"
"Oh, you know, Andrew, scaring off
Serena, important things like that. Say you
haven't seen her around have you?"
"Actually, yeah, she's over there by the
Sailor V game. She looks mad. I'd watch it
if I were you."
"'k. I'll be back soon. Call me when
the burger comes, okay?"
"Okay, Darien." Something was definitely
wrong with Darien, Andrew decided. Why was he
going over to Serena? Was he going to start a
fight? That's not how it usually happened,
though. Usually Serena did something klutzy
causing her to fall into Darien. They usually
got in a fight, Serena defending her
personality and grades, Darien responding to
the shrieks of 'baka' with more insults. It
was a vicious cycle.
"Hello," Darien called out to the back of
Serena as she tried to vent out the whole
fight with Faye with Sailor V.
"Hi," Serena replied sarcastically.
"What'cha doin'?" Darien asked with his
voice full of joy like a two- year- olds'.
"What do you think? I'm playing Sailor
V," Serena replied with even more sarcasm.
"Well, Serena. If you want to win, you
kind of have to fight the bad guys, not Tuxedo
Mask," Darien chuckled nervously.
"I'm gonna do whatever I want." Serena
replied looking at the little Tuxedo Mask on
the screen with pure hatred.
"That's fine Serena. I do have dinner
coming any second now. Oh, do you want to
come sit by me. You can have half of my
burger and some fries."
"I'm tired of 'everybody' thinking they
can bribe me with food! I'm not that much of
a pig that I'll sit through dinner with the
one human, notice I said, 'human,' I hate most
on Earth! And furthermore, and, and
furthermore, what's 'on' the burger?" Serena
asked suspiciously.
"Ketchup and pickles," Darien replied
laughing.
"This isn't funny! I was, umm, just
wondering anyway," Serena responded,
pronouncing each syllable with energy.
"I agree," Darien replied, mocking
Serena.
"Stop!" Serena yelled. She jumped from
the Sailor V seat and ran to Andrew's counter
shrieking, "Andrew, Andrew! It's being rude!
Make it stop!"
"Who? Darien?" a voice called out from
nowhere.
"Yes!" Serena replied maliciously.
"Well, tell him his burger's coming out
anyway."
"Andrew?"
"Yes?"
"Could you just put a whole bunch of
onions in there, and make his breath stink?"
"Serena? I think he would notice."
"Well, could you do anyway? For me?"
"Nah, sorry," Andrew replied and shouted,
"'Yo, Darien! You're burger's off the grill."
"What did you do that for? Now he's
going to come over here."
"Do you really hate him that much,
Serena?"
"Yes!"
"Well, try to be nice, okay?"
"Meatball Head being nice? Whoa, someone
get the doctor!" Darien joked, causing Serena
to shriek in surprise and Andrew to spill a
coffee cup he was going to put away.
"Don't 'do' that, Darien!" Serena
shrieked, breathing deeply.
"What?"
"Scare me like that! And I told you
don't call me Meatball Head! I have a name!"
"Yeah, it's Meatball Head," Darien
replied smugly.
"Ooh, if you don't stop, I'm gonna? Ugh!
Andrew? May I have half of that burger?
Darien said I could anyway."
"Darien," Andrew said with a question in
his eyes.
"Yes?"
"Nothing," Andrew said, eying Serena.
"We'll talk later."
"'k, Andrew. So where's that burger?
I'm starved!"
"Right here. It's fresh off the grill."
Darien picked up a knife and cut his burger in
half. He put the half burger on the extra
plate Andrew brought as a request from Darien.
Darien added a plentiful amount of fries to
accompany the burger.
"There 'ya go, Meatball Head," Darien
replied, his heart full of joy. What was this
feeling? He certainly had never felt it
before. He knew it was a joy only caused by a
certain blonde with a certain hairstyle.
"Darien?" Serena asked after Andrew left
to see other costumers.
"Yes?"
"Why do you always call me that?"
"What? Meatball Head?"
"I dunno, I always thought it was cute,
you know? I mean, it fits you, my little
Meatball Head. I could say it and at once
everyone knew who I was talking about."
"Oh. I never thought of it like that,"
Serena replied through a mouth full of burger.
"Yep. Anyway about this whole Faye
business?" 'Why did he have to bring that up?'
Serena wondered. She felt it was going well,
he almost was even being likeable, and then he
had to go bring that up. It brought back
memories from the afternoon. "So I was
thinking we could talk shop of this whole
affair over, let's say?"
"If you say dinner, I'll slap you to
kingdom come," Serena cut in, coming back to
her senses.
"Then how about lunch tomorrow?"
"Well, I guess that would be okay."
"Great! I'll pick you up at the Arcade
at noon? I know this little place. You might
want to put on a dress."
"Okay," Serena replied. Why did this
feel so much like a date?
"Perfect! So what'cha want to do now?"
"Oh, I don't know?" Serena began. She
ate a fry. Then she looked at Darien
quizzically. Was he staring at her? Sure
enough he looked away when she looked up.
They were in for a strange day it seemed.
Darien picked up a French fry. He
genteelly tore off a small piece of the fry.
He stole a side- glance at Serena as he tilted
his head back. In one swift motion he threw
the piece of French fry in the air to catch in
his mouth. It bounced off his nose. Serena
giggled.
"What?" Darien asked in surprise. "This
is funny?"
"No! No! It's not that!" Serena managed
to say, tears streaming down her face, as she
was laughing too hard. "It's just? it's so
funny!" They both burst out laughing. It was
getting harder to breath. They had to stop
laughing.
"Well, it's hard!" Darien protested.
"It can't be that hard!" Serena
exclaimed, picking up a small fry. She tilted
her head back. She tossed the fry in the air
and smiled a victorious smile as the fry
pelted into her mouth without interference.
"Told you!"
"Beginner's luck!"
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"I'll try it again then!"
"Fine," Darien said, handing Serena
another small fry. Serena took the fry with a
determining glare. Once again Serena tossed
the fry in the air and caught it in the mouth.
"I 'can' do this!" Serena said cracking a
smile.
"Gosh darn nit! I guess you can," Darien
said amazed.
"Gosh darn nit?" Serena asked holding
back a smile.
"You making fun of me?" Darien asked.
"Maybe," Serena replied, trying to keep
herself from laughing.
"I'm hurt," Darien said, mocking tears in
his eyes. Darien casually checked his watch
as he normally did out of habit. "Wow! It's
two o' clock in the afternoon already? I got
to get going to the hospital! They'll be
expecting me soon! Don't forget?noon
tomorrow! I'll pick 'ya up here!" Darien
exclaimed as he jumped up to run toward the
door. He stopped at the door to open it for a
small girl leaving the arcade. (AN: I
couldn't keep the mush for too long! Just
kidding.) 'He really is cute," Serena
thought. 'Whoa! Did I think that? That sure
is strange.'
Andrew watched Darien and Serena while
he was helping his costumers. Serena was
giggling like a schoolgirl. Well, she was a
schoolgirl, but that is beside the point. She
was giggling with Darien. She was giggling
'with' Darien and not at him! The times, they
are a changin'. He decided to go over to
Serena and see how she was.
"Serena?"
"Yes, Andrew?" Serena sighed. Serena was
sighing over Darien?
"What's up between you and Darien?"
"What do you mean, Andrew?"
"Well, you were giggling. I saw you."
"No I wasn't," Serena snapped.
"Serena, I didn't mean it like that. You
don't have to get defensive. After all, you
and Darien 'do' make a cute couple."
"No we don't! Besides! We would have to
'be' a couple to be a 'cute' one!" Serena
exclaimed, storming out of the arcade, leaving
Andrew chuckling.
Serena couldn't help but smile as she
left the arcade. A cute couple? Wait! No.
She hated Darien. She would not even consider
dating him. That was not an issue! It did
not even matter that Darien was Tuxedo Mask.
It just meant she would never go out with
Tuxedo Mask. That's all. Serena continued to
think over all that happened, staring at the
cement as she walked. She did not look up
until she collided with a person.
"Watch where you are going, Meatball
Head," Raye called out. Serena looked up to
see her four best friends, Raye, Lita, Amy,
and Mina. Luna was sitting on Amy's shoulder,
and Artemis on Mina's.
"Raye," Mina called out warningly.
"don't start. So how did it go with you and
Darien?"
"Well, wouldn't you like to know?" Serena
said, walking off, and making the others
groan.
***
Serena looked at herself in her full-
length mirror. She wore a plain pink
spaghetti strap dress, which hung to her mid-
thigh. The bottom of the dress was lined with
little rabbits hopping the hem of the dress.
Serena checked herself in the mirror and
smiled nervously at her reflection. She
wondered if she was dressed fancy enough,
being as she never went to a fancy restaurant.
Serena looked back at her reflection with
a thought. How would she look with a small
chain around her neck? Serena walked over to
her jewelry box. A beautiful song played as
she pulled out a simple silver chain, and
looked to find the charm to go with it. She
picked up her jewelry box and took it to her
bed. Sitting on the bed, she then proceeded
to dump all the continents on her bed,
searching for the small chain. Serena finally
found the charm she was looking for with a
happy feeling.
Serena regarded the charm. It was a
small crescent moon. She remembered when Luna
gave it to her on Christmas. Her friends held
similar necklaces given to them by Luna on
Christmas. Amy was given a small blue circle,
which was identical to Mercury; Mina was given
a small circle, identical to Venus. Raye was
given a small red circle identical to Mars and
to Lita, a small circle with a ring around it
represent Jupiter.
Serena nodded. Yes, that was the
necessity. She put the necklace on, and
scooped all the jewelry back into he box. She
set the jewelry box on her dresser once more.
Serena checked herself one more time,
looking for any flaw at all to pounce on. She
grabbed her lipstick to reapply again. Serena
started putting her lipstick on again when she
realized she had on too much. She laughed,
reaching for a tissue to blot her lipstick.
She tried holding her breath to calm the
nerves. At that moment Luna walked in the
room.
"Mmhmm." Serena explained to Luna
keeping her mouth closed.
"Excuse me?" Luna asked, watching
Serena's face turn from blue to purple.
"Phew! Sorry. Nerves," Serena replied
as she let her breath out. She was breathing
hard as she tried to explain to Luna about her
nerves. "Err, Tuxedo Mask, I mean, Darien and
I are going out to lunch to discuss this
'Faye' person."
"Well, have fun," Luna replied with a
knowing smile.
"Fun? This is purely business!"
"And how many times have I heard that
one?"
"But it's true this time, Luna!"
"How many boys have you gone out with for
'purely business' intentions?"
"Well, none of them, but this is
different."
"What makes you so sure?" Luna asked.
"Well, this is Darien! I hate him! Eww,
I just thought of what it would be like to go
out with Darien. Yuck. Mental picture and
it's not pretty!"
"That's not what the others say," Luna
hinted.
"Oh, yeah? What did they say?" Serena
demanded rather than asked.
"Yeah," Luna began, "after Raye, Mina,
Amy, and Lita ran into you, they went to the
Arcade. They talked to Andrew who said you
guys were yakking it up. You guys wouldn't
stop laughing. According to him, you were
practically giddy. In fact, Andrew said you
guys were 'cute' together."
"He said that?" Serena asked with a smile
creeping onto her face.
"I see that smile!" Luna exclaimed.
"What smile?" Serena asked, wiping the
smile off her face. "Oh, well, it doesn't
matter. I got to go. I'm meeting him at the
Arcade in twenty minutes. Bye!" Serena
called out as she headed toward the door.
"See you soon. Have fun at your
'business' meeting."
"Haha. It is business. Sorry to
disappoint you," Serena said as she walked out
her front door. She closed the door behind
her. She walked in the wonderful morning air.
She breathed deeply, loving the way the fresh
air smelled. Yes, she admitted, air did have
a smell, and this air smelled wonderful.
She didn't seem to think of the way air
smelled before. What made her think of it
now? What made her think of the grass, the
sky, the birds, the trees, rainbows, and
everything wonderful now? It seemed almost as
if it fell into her life.
Serena felt a tingly feeling in her
stomach as she opened the door to the Arcade.
Funny, she never had that feeling before. If
she did, it was not a lot of times. She saw
Andrew beaming at her from the counter.
"Serena," Andrew called out, "over here!
So tell me," he added when she got to the
counter. "So how's Darien?" he asked winking
at Serena.
"How should I know?" Serena snapped.
"And don't go around paying attention to that
pompous jerk. And is something wrong with
your eye? It keeps twitching."
"Sorry, Serena. I didn't know, I mean, I
thought you guys were going out."
"I would rather die than go out with that
spastic freak!"
"Ouch. Well, I guess it's true," Darien
said behind Serena causing Serena to jump once
more, and Andrew to spill the coffee cup he
was collecting once more."
"Don't 'do' that, Darien!" Serena said.
"Okay, okay, you ready to go?"
"Yep!"
"Well, you look cute," Darien said
causing Serena to blush a deep red. "Come on,
the car's parked around the block. That's the
closest I could get it."
"That's cool," Serena said, praying the
tingly feeling in her stomach, which got worse
on Darien's arrival, to go away.
"You'll love this place, Serena; I know
you will."
"Good, but this is business stuff,
right?"
"Well, what do you think?" Darien asked
walking toward the red convertible.
***
"That was so funny! He really said that
to you?" Serena asked, laughing as she brought
a bite of chicken to her mouth
"Yeah, he did, but let's get down to
business now." Darien said, looking over at
Serena. He wanted to talk the whole lunch
away on pointless things, which would not
matter in the years to come, but he felt he
must discuss this 'Faye issue.' Darien
reached into his pocket. He pulled out five
glittering crystals. (AN: I forgot how many
he had so now he has five according to me!)
He set them out on the table in front of
Serena. "They're the Rainbow Crystals. I've
been collecting them. There's seven total.
The Negaverse has two. If the Negaverse got a
hold of these, havoc would happen. They join
together to form the Silver Imperium Crystal.
This truly belongs to the Moon Princess. I
trust you being the Sailor of the Moon, you're
the leader?" Serena nodded. "You know who the
princess is?" Serena shook her head. "Well,
there they are. What do you think? I need
you're opinion."
"I'm not sure. I think I need to look
closer. May I pick them up?" Darien nodded
his head. Serena picked up the yellow,
orange, red, green, and blue sparkly crystals.
She looked at them. She received a headache
all of a sudden, a jumble of information. She
shook the headache out, setting down the
crystals. She decided she should see one
crystal at a time.
Serena picked up the yellow crystal. She
peered hard into the crystal. A memory
flickered. She looked hard into the crystal
to see what it was she thought she saw. She
saw a palace. She saw herself or someone who
looked like herself on a palace balcony. Her
forehead glowed gold with a little crescent
moon. She looked down from the balcony to
talk to a man in armor and a cape beneath the
balcony. The man looked more or less like
Darien. Serena felt herself being lost in the
memory played before her.
Serena snapped into realization like
being woken from a dream. The crystal slipped
from her fingers onto the table; her face was
clammy. When did she remember that from?
What was that scene played before her?
"Hey, Meatball Head," Darien warned,
"careful with the crystals. We need those for
the princess. Hey is something the matter?"
Darien asked with true concern. Serena looked
up to Darien. Her pupils were dilated; sweat
broke out on her forehead.
"Oh, man!" Darien exclaimed. "You okay?
We need to get you to a doctor," Darien
explained calmly. Working in the hospital he
knew of such things, which happened.
"Check please!" Darien cried desperately.
"Oh, I think I can handle that," a woman
replied. The woman's brilliant red hair
looked oddly familiar.
"Well, could you hurry, please? My
friend here, she's in trouble. I've got to
take her to the hospital!"
"Yes, I'll get it right away," the woman
replied smoothly. Serena made a sudden
conscious effort to hold tight onto the
crystals in her hand as she laid her head over
her hands.
"Serena, it's okay," it's just the
waitress.
"Well, I think Ms. Moon has the right
idea, Mr. Mask," the waitress said as her
stature suddenly changed.
"Oh, no," Darien muttered under his
breath. "Serena, don't let go of the
crystals," he whispered as silently to Serena
as she could.
"I won't," Serena mouthed with her head
still face down to the table. Darien still
seemed to understand Serena.
Faye cackled as she returned to her full
fairy attire. She lifted her olive green
fingers to stroke Serena's long blonde hair.
Serena flinched. Darien stood up to help
Serena.
"I'm very capable of breaking her neck in
one swift motion," Faye warned Darien as he
saw tears stream down Serena's face. The two
locked eyes. They suddenly knew everything
the other was thinking. It was an over-
powering feeling. They both looked away
quickly, but slowly, they looked up and into
each other's eyes once more.
'Protect the crystals,' Darien's eyes
flashed.
'I know,' Serena's eyes said with
acknowledgement as her hand held the crystals
tighter. They were digging into her hand;
they were breaking the first layer of skin.
'I'm scared,' Serena's eye's pleaded as
she slid off her seat and onto the floor to
her knees. Darien threw himself to the floor
to reach Serena. He felt a need to hug her.
Darien wrapped his arms around Serena's waist.
Serena leaned her head on Darien's shoulder.
"How touching!" Faye replied
sarcastically. To the horrified watching
crowd, she said, "I'll borrow these two for a
sec. Toodles!" Faye disappeared, pulling
Darien and Serena with her.
***
"One more time, where are the crystals?"
Faye shouted.
"I'll never tell you," Serena said. She
was glad when Faye pulled them into the
darkness for it gave her a chance to put the
crystals into her transformation broach. Faye
scowled at Serena, who was behind the bars of
a prison- like cell in the Negaverse. Darien
was in the same cell as Serena.
"Is it here?" Faye demanded as she pulled
on Serena's dress causing one of the straps to
snap.
"Hey! You'll have to pay for that,"
Serena exclaimed.
"Ha! I'll pay for nothing."
"Back off," Serena shouted.
"Serena, please," Darien whispered as he
tried to keep Serena from making Faye too
upset.
"I think your little 'boyfriend' has it
right. I just leave you two to think," Faye
said, leaving Darien and Serena.
"This is all your fault!" Serena
exclaimed, pounded her fists on Darien's
chest.
"Oh, yeah?" Darien grabbed Serena's
wrists to stop her from beating his chest.
"Yeah! If you hadn't allowed her to
learn your identity, then I never would have
de-transformed. As far as I'm concerned, you
can take your stupid crystals. I'm going to
go!" Serena exclaimed, pulling her wrists from
his grip. She opened her broach to reveal the
crystals. She held her hand out as the
crystals removed itself from the locket and
floated into her hand.
Serena looked at the crystals once more.
She suddenly saw an image flash in the blue
crystal. Serena looked closely into the
crystal. A ball scene flickered. There were
people everywhere. She spotted her look
alike. A man approached the look alike. He
bowed to the woman.
Realization dawned on Serena. She nodded
to herself. She set the crystals next to
Darien as her eyes began to droop. She
noticed Darien pocketing the crystals into an
inner pocket he had. Serena's eye's further
closed. Serena leaned against one of the
walls of the cell. She looked out from the
cracks of her eyes. She thought hard until
she closed her eyes all the way and lay
asleep.
***
Serena woke up to find herself held close
to Darien in his arms. She felt warm, safe,
and a million others she could not recognize.
Serena looked up to Darien's face. His dark
black hair wisped across his closed eyes.
Serena brushed the hair away and tucked it
behind his ears.
"You awake?" Darien mumbled, waking
himself up.
"Yeah, I am."
"Good. Hey, Serena? You see things in
the crystals, don't you?"
"What, um, makes you say that?" Serena
whispered airily.
"Well, you stare intently into those
crystals. You gasp. You stare closer and
harder. Then almost as the energy is draining
out of you; you get tired."
"Yeah," Serena whispered, "I do. I see
things in the crystals."
"Do you mind if I ask what you see?"
"Well, I?"
"This is so great! It's like a movie,"
they heard a voice call out. Faye was sitting
in the air, in fairy form. She held a bowl of
popcorn in her lap. "Want some?" Faye asked
offering the popcorn.
"Don't take anything," Darien warned
Serena.
"I won't. I'm not stupid, you know!"
Serena whispered back in a hushed voice.
"You sure about that, Sailor Moon?" Faye
asked.
"Yes, I'm sure," Serena sneered.
"Careful," Darien warned again.
"No, Darien! I don't know who she is
thinking she can just play with our lives like
little puppets!" Serena shouted. She ran
toward the bars as if to run through them to
get to Faye. Faye laughed, throwing energy at
Serena. It hit her hard as she fell back
against the wall. Serena determinately stood
back up.
"Well, you got spunk and I admire that.
I truly do," Faye said. "Yeah, you know. Go
women's rights!"
"Don't you make fun of me," Serena said.
"Oh, really? You're pathetic Sailor
Moon. You fight me when I am rude, but you
also fight me even when I'm nice. You are
arrogant. You think you're better than me,"
Faye said.
"I am," Serena said with a weak voice.
"Excuse me?"
"I am better than you," Serena said with
a voice weak but determining.
"Serena please!" Darien begged.
"I have you here. I found you and your
identity. I can stop your tiara from crushing
me. You need your little 'boy toy' to protect
you. I am far strong, superior, and all in
the name of the Negaverse!"
"Gee, and how did you get me here. You
revolved your whole evil life around Darien
and me. You hunted us down until you caught
us by surprise to get us. You abused hundreds
of people to get what you want. I use my
seven friends and myself to stop you. My
scouts, my guardians, and Tuxedo Mask, protect
me because they want to, not because I make
them. You have me here, locked up like an
animal. I could fight you, and yet, you keep
me locked in this stupid cage! You are
stronger than me, but I still stand up to you!
You keep sending your evil. Even if you kill
me, I have my friends to keep your evil from
spreading around the world. I am on the side
on good. If I ever die, then I will still
live on through the love, kindness, and good,
people care so much about!"
Faye threw too much energy at Serena.
Serena hit the wall, unconscious. "Well, at
least you stay well behaved," Faye told
Darien. Darien held a sickening feeling in
his stomach. "So what about these crystals?"
Faye asked, her anger having left her.
"You'll never know. I'll die before I
tell you," was his reply as he once again
gathered Serena into his arms.
***
"You told me I keep you here in a cage,"
Faye told a waking Serena. "Well, here's your
chance. Get up." Faye snapped her fingers,
making the bars disappear. Serena jumped to
her feet. She crossed over where the bars
once were. She glanced back at Darien. He
gave her an encouraging smile. "Well,
transform," Faye told Serena. Darien nodded
to Serena.
"Moon, Prism, Power!" Serena shouted,
looking around the room. She materialized
into Sailor Moon through a series of ribbons
before their very eyes. She glanced back at
Darien for final encouragement. "I'm ready."
"Well," Faye grinned. "This is the
ultimate battle. You and I will fight until
the death."
"Death?" Serena asked uncertainly.
"What's the matter? Afraid good won't
win out?"
"No," Serena said flatly. "I'm ready."
"Great. We'll start on three. One, two,
three."
Serena sent her tiara hurtling toward
Faye as Faye sent her energy toward Serena.
Faye sidestepped the tiara the same time
Serena did with the energy. On the
turnaround, the tiara grazed Faye's hip. Her
hip started to bleed from the deep cut. The
energy ricocheted off the wall as it sped
toward the standing Darien. Serena's voice
caught in her throat as she watched her love's
head hit the fall hard and bleed steadily.
Yes, her love. At that moment, so many
different emotions flew through Serena. She
knew she had loved him all the time. She had
loved him ever since her bad Algebra test
grade bounced off his head. Her heart burned
with anger for the stupidity of his slow
reactions, and yet, it ached for his pains.
She knew what to do. Her mind
concentrated on the Rainbow Crystals as she
drew the moon wand Luna had given her. The
five Darien owned flew from his jacket pocket
to combine with the two, which flew from
Faye's.
Faye shouted words at Serena, none of
which Serena heard. The seven crystals formed
into a pure silver stone. Serena knew at
once, this was the Silver Imperium Crystal,
which was now attaching to her moon wand.
Faye continued to yell words at Serena.
Serena held the wand above her head, muttering
words she never knew she knew to put together.
Faye screamed in agony as she turned to dust,
dead.
Serena ran toward Darien. She sat with
her knees buckled under her. She pulled
Darien onto her lap and held him in her arms
the way he did with her so many times that
night.
"I love you," Serena whispered, tears
streaming down her face. "I love. I love y-
you," she cried, the tears falling harder. A
tear fell from her face to Darien's face. His
head healed completely as Serena and he caught
up together in a memory.
Everything trickled back to Serena as she
remembered. She remembered. She was the
Princess of the Moon, and Darien was the
Prince of Earth. He was her love, her dear
prince.
Serena's mother visited Serena in her
dreams. Queen Serenity explained Serena's
life of long ago during a time when she was
called Princess Serenity. It was Serena to
all her important and close friends. Prince
Darien always preferred to use his pet name,
Meatball Head.
Every scene of Princess Serenity's life
flashed through Serena's mind, from the she
was born to the day she along with most of her
kingdom died from invasion of the Negaverse.
Serena's mind went blank as she slumped
onto Darien's unconscious body. She
transformed into Princess Serenity. A white
shoulder-less gown flowed out from her. White
pearls glistened in her hair. A small chain
of pearls graced one of her small wrists. The
moon wand lay at her feet.
***
Luna and Artemis were asleep on Serena's
bed when they felt the mark of their crescent
moon on their foreheads. Their princess they
spent so long searching for was found.
Amy was typing on her laptop when she
felt Mercury burn upon her forehead. Their
princess was found
Lita was cooking in her kitchen was her
soul glistened green. The long wait was over.
Mina was on her bed, writing a note to a
close friend of hers when she noticed the joy
Venus was broadcasting. They found her, their
wonderful, wonderful princess.
Raye was consulting her fire when it
occurred. Her fire glowed red, explaining the
amazing occasion to her.
All six felt the memories flood back to
them. Serena was their dear princess, and
Darien, their prince. They wondered at once
how they could have missed it. They both held
the same joyous naivety. It seemed like
yesterday they were living on the Moon
Kingdom.
They each heard Queen Serenity's voice
explode in their eardrums, explaining what
happened long ago. They died to protect their
princess. They felt victorious knowing they
would die to save her in this lifetime as
well.
***
Serena stirred. She sat up. She woke
the same time as Darien. "I love you," she
bawled.
"I know. I love you, too," he replied,
his eyes misting over. They held each other
in their arms. Serena slowly de- transformed
from Princess Serenity to Sailor Moon, and
then to Serena. She watched Prince Darien
dissolve into Darien.
"Come on," she said. "It's creepy in
here."
"Okay," Darien laughed as she looked into
Serena's eyes. Their locked eyes searched
each other for meaning. Darien never doubted
once that his love was stronger than Faye.
Serena and Darien stood up hugging each
other, blood still drying on Darien's suit.
They concentrated on Raye's temple, where they
knew the others were.
***
Luna, Artemis, Amy, Mina, Raye and Lita,
were discussing what they felt when Darien and
Serena materialized before them. They fell
silent. The eight looked at each other. They
fully understood what happened in the
Negaverse. After hearing of their pasts, they
knew what happened from Serena being born
until the very second Serena and Darien
appeared before them.
"Is there anything we can do? Anything
at all?" Raye asked in concern for her best
friend.
"Yes, anything?" Luna added. All this
time she had been guarding the Moon Princess!
"Actually, I'm kind of tired," Serena
giggled.
"I know what you mean, love," Darien
laughed, kissing Serena. The others laughed.
They knew they would be ready for anything.
^_^
Well? What'cha think? It's a different tune
then the first fanfic. Please tell me what
you like and don't like so I know what to do
for next time. Please e- mail me! I need it
so desperately. Not desperately, but close
enough. ;) Thanks. Bye. ~Dream Enid